


Old Ghost Tales

by orphan_account



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 09:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3169154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shorts I wrote a couple years ago</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Truth Be told, most of these were written more than a year ago. I was just starting writing then, so they aren't really up to par with my work now. I had them on tumblr, but I cleaned up my blog and they aren't there anymore. I figured I'd post them here so people could see them. I'm not editing them before hand, so there will be some typos. I have a migraine right now, so I'm going to do this quickly.

01\. Introduction

Danny’s POV

I was beyond tired. Way beyond tired. So tired I just wanted to curl up on the floor and sleep. The mission we had just gotten back from was long and tiring, and while everyone else had slept on their way back to Terra II, I had flown the ship. I wasn’t bitter about it, and there were several other pilots on board that I could have woken, I just wanted to sleep now.

The mission was absurd. Some troublemaker on Aelurus had decided to be an ass and trashed the pipes in the capital. That triggered a chair reaction so all of the pipes were broken, all over the planet. There were sprinklers running wild in every building and the whole planet was in uproar. It was something that most of the humans thought was hilarious. I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it. I just went on the mission because it needed to be done.

Three teams had all gone on the one shuttle to the planet. My team with me, Sam, Tucker, Kwan and Cujo, Dash’s team with him, Johnny, Kitty, Star, and Paulina, and Valarie’s team with her, Youngblood, Poindexter, Wulf, and Megan. So far it was Kitty’s least favorite mission. We had been on Aelurus for a week with the bare minimum of sleep, and then I flew a ship back to Terra II for an eight hour flight. Yeah, sleep sounded like a good idea. Maybe Sam would curl up with me, she was sure to still be tired. I was really looking forward to landing and trudging back to my room. Then I landed and found out that was defiantly not happening.

******

I landed and just sat there with my eyes closed in the pilot’s seat for a moment. Then I pressed the alarm button on the control panel. There was a screaming chime and the others all jolted awake. “Hold on Potatoes! I’m coming!” Tucker yelped.

I rolled my eyes as I popped the hatch, the door out to the rest of the station opening. “Everybody out.” I instructed. “Or you could sleep in the ship too, but I don’t think that the janitors would be pleased with you if you did that.”

There was a sound of heavy shuffling as we made our way out of the ship. It was deathly silent in the hanger, something that never happened before, not even during drills. “Something’s wrong.” Paulina mused, brushing some stray petals out of her eyes.

I nodded, white hair fluttering in front of my eyes. “Should we go to our rooms or debriefing…” I trailed off. Valarie pulled a blaster off of her belt.

“The main hall.” She instructed, a visor falling down over her eyes. She had just rejoined the corps after taking time off. She’s caused some trouble, but I was glad to have her back. “That’s where most of the heat signatures are. But there’s something strange too. I can’t place it. It’s weird. You getting anything that sets any alarms off Wulf?” She barked out. I turned to Cujo as the taller Anubi shook his head.

“A strange smell maybe? Or even just a lack of something. Just something to go off of so we have some idea of what we’re getting into.” I suggested to my own teammate.

Cujo crouched even lower to the ground. His nose nuzzled on the ground before he suddenly jumped up. “Something new.” His translator collar screeched in a tone that almost grated on your ears. “Smells like Danny, but smaller. Newer. And tears. Lots of tears.”

I stiffened. Somebody that smelled like me. There had never been anybody that smelled remotely like me. I was alone. But there was somebody here. And even if they weren’t a halpha they were crying a whole lot.

“Danny.” Dash prompted. “What do you want to do?”

That was right. The decision fell to me. I was the highest ranking officer in the group, and even though I usually asked for the other’s decisions, the choice was ultimately up to me. I steeled my nerves and light burst into my eyes, a pale glow covering my surroundings.

“Let’s go.”

*****

We creeped down the hall and stood by the edges of the doorway. There was a clamor of noise inside of the hall, a clamor that didn’t sound like things were going smoothly. I nodded to my companions and let my core loosen, allowing myself to float. My hand moved without me even thinking about it. 1, 2, 3…

We burst into the room and it fell silent save for the sniveling of a child. Weapons were lowered but I didn’t drop to the ground. There was a girl cowering in the corner of the room. She was younger than me, by how much I couldn’t tell, but by looking at her body structure I would say that she was at least 13, if not older than that. That wasn’t what struck me though. What struck me was the shockingly white hair, a black chunk running through the right side of her locks. I saw the pale blue skin covered in scrapes sluggishly oozing pink liquid. I saw the green eyes I saw in the mirror every morning. And I saw my mama in this child. The facial structure, the tilt of her nose, the curl of her lip, the hair twisting over her shoulders and down her back. She looked like Desiree Masters, but she was nearly twenty years too young to be my mama.

She was wearing traditional dress, a leotard as black as the void covering her small form, a pale blue scarf wrapped around her arms for warmth. It was freezing on Terra II right now, and she couldn’t pulled the scarf snug enough around herself. Pale blue. The same color I was wearing, the color I had insisted be on the jumpsuit for halphas. The color I wore in memory of my family.

The child was without a doubt, a halpha. And she was terrified.

I willed myself up just a little closer to her and motioned for the Cinders that had been trying to get her to land to back off and give her some space. Skeptically, they nodded and glided down to the ground. I pulled my white glove off and willed a small amount of ectoplasm into my hand. It took effort, and it was tiring, but this was the proper way to introduce yourself. I remembered that much.

Recognition dawned in the girl’s eyes and she squeezed her eyes shut before willing a small orb of ectoplasm into her own hand. I held up my hand and she pressed hers to mine, like how humans pressed their hands together on opposite sides of the glass. It was like that, but instead of glass between us, there was ectoplasm. There was life.

 _“I am Daniel.”_ I informed her in our shared her tongue.

 _“And I Danielle.”_ She replied. _“Kinsmen?”_ She questioned a wobble in her voice. This was the part that was most important. A kinsmen was a friend, a family member. You didn’t offer kinship to everyone. It was accepting them into your clan. This girl was different though, something about her let me know that she really needed an older brother, even though I had only known her for a matter of moments.

 _“Kinsmen.”_ I agreed soothingly.

 

Danielle launched herself and me and shook with her sobs. _“My Daddy!”_ She cried. _“He’s hurt. We crashed. He’s all I have. Help me. Please Daniel. Help me.”_ I gathered her in my arms and held her as I floated down to the ground.

She still had a family. She had a Papa and he was dying, just like mine had. My eyes hardened. “I need a medic!” I barked out. “I need my team to wait just a few more minutes before going to bed.”

They were all still standing there, more alert than expected. Not just my small team, but Dash’s and Valarie’s small teams too. We were the team that went on large missions together. A joined group of species and friends, even if Dash was a little rude and Johnny liked to slam his feet, shifted into spikes, into my feet. “We’re ready for duty Captain Masters.” Megan exclaimed with a grin.

I shifted Danielle so I was cradling her. She had small arms wrapped around my neck so she felt secure. “Then let’s go.”

****

 

For a small girl, Danielle flew fast. She darted quickly and my friends were more than grateful that they had jetpacks and didn’t have to try and follow her in a ship. I, on the other hand, had no issues following her. She was probably pacing herself, making sure she didn’t lose the rest of the group.

 _“My Daddy!”_ Danielle reminded me as we slowed for the others again.

 _“They’re going as fast as they can.”_ I assured her. “ _Should you and I go ahead?”_

She nodded franticly. _“Yes. Now. We need to go now!”_

I turned to my friends and halted in the air. “Danielle says we need to get to him now. She wants us to fly ahead and have you follow behind. Is that okay?” I asked slowly.

Kitty nodded and shooed me away. “Go. Tucker can track you. You haven’t met another halpha in years. We’ll be there in just a minute.” I looked over at Sam and she rolled her eyes.

“Go on.” She insisted. “I’ll make sure the pansies don’t get themselves killed.” I smiled before turning back to Danielle.

 _“Alright.”_ I agreed. _“Let’s go.”_

*****

The ship was small, a modified version of one of the ones that had been mass produced on Phantom Planet. The paint job had been custom, and there were a couple extra rooms in the room that weren’t usually on ships like this. It had been nice, but it was old and very run down, along with being a pile of scrap in a crater of its own creation from impact.

Danielle pulled me over to a crumbled mess of metal over where I assume the front of the ship had been. She carefully moved a thin, flimsy piece of metal and revealed a man. His grey hair was matted with pink blood that pulsed with energy.

 _“Daddy. I’m back. I brought some help. You’re going to be okay Daddy.”_ She breathed softly, running her fingers through the hair tenderly. The man smiled.

_“I know I will be Danielle. Now hush child.”_

Something inside of me snapped. That voice, I knew that voice. I closed my eyes and pictured the voice, though the man before me wasn’t who I saw, at least not the age he was now. I could see a strong man with long pale grey hair that was almost white, ruby eyes that twinkled when he smiled, and pale blue skin that matched Danielle’s exactly. This man, this man before me pinned under all of this rubble, was my Papa.

I took a shaking breath and knelt down on the ground. I could let him know who I was later. Right now, he needed help, and lots of it. _“I can help you.”_ I said shakily. _“But I’m going to wait just a second. I have my team and a medic on it coming to help you. I just don’t want you to bleed out if I move anything that stops whatever’s bleeding so much.”_

Papa nodded and chuckled painfully. _“I don’t doubt it. You appear to be a strong young man. How old are you son?”_

My throat caught in a way that was so painful I had to close my eyes. _“I’m Twenty-One years old.”_ I managed.

 _“Mmh.”_ Papa mused. _“That means you were six when the world fell to pieces, yes?”_ I nodded and tears prickled my eyes. I could see the effect of his injuries now. His legs were crushed, the blood on his head was only from a cut on his head. He would probably never walk again, but he wasn’t going to die. I wasn’t going to let him.

 _“I was.”_ I responded robotically. I could hear the jetpacks now. They were going to help him it was going to be alright.

Papa looked up at me with eyes that had seen pain. The pain of losing a child. _“I’m sorry about your family, Boy.”_ He said tenderly. I clenched my teeth, there would be no tears, not right now. I was Captain Masters. I didn’t need to cry.

_“Let’s just get you out of here safely, you can talk later.”_

I stood up and waved my friends through. Kwan and Johnny worked together to gently remove the debris from Papa as Sam walked over and carefully removed me from the ground.

“This isn’t just some random guy, is it?” She questioned. “You know him, don’t you?”

I nodded. “This is my Father.” I whispered, watching carefully as Kitty started working. She was a medic specialty. She would be able to help him.

“Come on Babe.” Sam murmured. “He’ll be alright, Kitty’s got it covered.”

****

Several hours later I was dozing lightly in the infirmary of Headquarters. All my friends had gone off to bed, even though they had offered to sit in the room with me. Danielle had climbed up on to the bed with Papa, curling around him like I assumed they did all of the time. I had pulled a chair up to the bed and fallen asleep, my head resting on my hands. I was always a light sleeper though, so if Papa moved at all I would know.

Suddenly, I jolted awake. I looked around and heard a faint chuckle. _“Do you always sleep in the rooms of people you rescue?”_ Papa asked merrily. He shifted just a small bit and wrapped an arm around Danielle.

 _“No.”_ I stuttered. _“I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk to you and I just got back from this huge mission and I must have fallen asleep. I’m sorry.”_

Papa waved me off. _“Don’t apologize Son, you saved me and my Danielle. Do you remember how to greet an equal properly?”_

I nodded. _“I do, but you’re weak and really low on copper and tired. You can greet me later, really, it’s fine.”_

He sighed. _“Very well. Do you know any other greetings?”_

I nodded. _“Actually, I do. A human family found me in the rubble of Phantom Planet. For a while I passed as a human, so I know that greeting. All you do is clasp hands, shake once, and say your name along with your title.”_

Papa nodded and stuck out his hand. I grasped it and shook it once. _“Vlad Masters, also Vlad Plasmius.”_ He introduced.

I swallowed thickly. _“Captain Daniel Masters of Space Corps._ ” I said after a pause. _“I’m your son.”_

 

 


	2. Damsel

Sam was getting really tired of this. Seriously, how was this supposed to be remotely nerve racking. There was the Fright Knight, again, convinced that if he stole her Danny would be so filled with terror that he wouldn't be able to do a thing to keep the ghosts in check.

That was a load.

Her arms were bound all too loosely and her ankles were tied to the chair inside of Fright's Lair. The ghost obviously wasn't used to having competent hostages, as he hadn't even checked her for any weapons at all. Not like she would need them, but still, it was a bit insulting. She was a huntress, her limbs full of fire. She fought just as many ghosts as Danny, and they all seemed to forget the human teenager was around. That had been fine, until she and Danny started dating.

Apparently now she was a hostage, and only a hostage.

Sam tilted her head to get a better look at her restraints. It wasn’t even a good knot, something done quickly to keep her in place.

Sam twisted her arms and untied herself with ease before untying her ankles. She slipped a hand into her pocket and removed a metal cylinder the size of a lipstick tube. Sam pressed a button on the end and it expanded into a staff glowing with the power of ectoplasm infused metal. One end was sharp as a knife, the other dull.

 

She stormed out of the room that hadn’t even been locked and found the Fright Knight by the sound of his gloating. Sam stood there for a minute waiting for him to realize that she was even _there_. She cleared her throat and he started, unaware that he had company. “Hey.” She yelled furiously as she crossed the room. “You, are an ass!”

Before the knight could even draw his sword the staff had knocked him in the neck, making him stumble backwards. The metal flew through the air and swept behind him, striking the knight in the knees before a heavy kick from Sam’s combat boots to the chest knocked the unsteady ghost over.

Sam heavily stomped on his chest, making some of the armor crumple from beneath the force. She trained the pointed end of her weapon at Fright Knight’s forehead. “I am not a damsel You snot-nosed Bucket of Maggot Vomit! I am Sam Fucking Manson. Without me, there would be no Danny Phantom. There would be no hero, and a good portion of Amity Park would probably be dead. I wake up at three to make sure that nobody has gotten themselves killed, and when everything’s fine, I go for a two mile run before going back to bed because why not.”

Sam turned the pointed tip to about four inches below the knight’s sternum, lifting it high. “I’m also the medic for my team, and I’ve been studying ghost anatomy for years. If I force this through your armor and twist, you will cease. Do you want to try me?”

The ghost flinched and tried to shy away, still pinned below Sam’s boots. “No M’lady. I understand M’lady.”

Sam nodded sharply before throwing her foot forwards. A sharp crack rang through the air, the sound of a jaw breaking. Ectoplasm dribbled out of Fright’s mouth before Sam slammed her staff clean through one of his hands. The Knight made a strangled noise before Sam released him and walked away.

 

Danny had been standing watching, leaning against the wall of Fright’s War Room where Sam had found the ghost. She had it covered, and he was only here to be her ride.

Sam collapsed her staff and rolled her eyes when she saw him. “How long have you been here?” She asked with a smirk as she wiped the ectoplasm on her pants.

Danny shrugged. “Ten minutes or so. You want to head home?”

Sam playfully elbowed Danny in the side as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “How about you get me a smoothie instead to repay me for my troubles?”

“Why am I paying for the smoothies, It’s your turn.” He cried in mock outrage.

“Because it’s your fault I was kidnapped, Dork.” Sam said smugly as he lifted the two of them to the skies. Danny pressed a kiss to the corner of Sam’s mouth.

“Really Miss ‘You should be a Super Hero?’”

“Drop it Ghost Boy.”

“Yes Ma’am.”


	3. Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda a crossover with Batman. It's really basic though, so you don't need to read or watch anything for it.

A man walked across thin air above a city known for being strange. The place had its own caped hero parading around, though Daniel didn’t doubt that he was highly qualified. He was supposed to meet the man here, but he was ten minutes late. Daniel was starting to think that he wouldn’t show when he felt another life aura get closer to the building. Unlike the other human souls, this one was stronger. It had resilience and power that the others didn’t possess, along with the guardedness that normal humans without secrets didn’t have. Daniel didn’t need the analysis that came from his powers though, because the man’s costume wasn’t subtle in the least. He appeared to be dresses as some kind of a marsupial.

Daniel landed on the roof of the building before turning visible and pulling a sleek cell phone out of his boot. He checked the latest messages. Lily, Sam, Lily, Tucker, Lily, Jazz, Lily, and Lily again. The girl had left him four voice mails, eight texts, and what appeared to be a very angry video. It must have been a rough day at school. That was all that he could think of bothering her that much. Daniel sighed as he stashed the phone back in his boot. His visitor was coming up the elevator shaft now, and he wasn’t going to risk this so called “Batman” being somebody that he couldn’t trust and returning Lily’s messages coming back to bite him. She could get hurt, and as much as he knew that she could take care of herself, he still wasn’t going to chance it. Even if the world knew who he was, he wasn’t going to let any classified information about Lily get out.

His host finally joined the party as the elevator opened, sliding through the door so swiftly that if Daniel hadn’t had super senses, he would have missed him. “Good,” Daniel noted. “You’re really late, you know that, right?”

Batman straightened as he straightened his cape. “Daniel Phantom,” He greeted.

The halfa laughed good-naturedly. “Dan’s fine, Dan Phantom if you so feel the need for surnames. You said that you wanted to talk with me?”

The human nodded and pulled two discs out of his belt. He tossed one to the phantom and he caught it easily. Dan looked it over and raised his eyebrows. “Transporter discs,” He identified. “Pretty decent ones if I do say so myself. Where are you taking me?” Daniel looked over with eyes that switched from easy going to dangerous in milliseconds. “And if you don’t give me an answer I like, I can short this out in less than a second.”

The caped man didn’t look frightened. “My team has a base just outside of the earth’s atmosphere. I’m going to take you there for a conversation.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Will there be cell service there?” He asked casually. At the bat’s inquiring glance he rolled his eyes. “My daughter’s called me five times in the last forty minutes.”

“Make your call before we go,” The caped crusader instructed.

 

Daniel nodded as he pulled his phone out of his boot, pressing the speed dial and calling the cell phone that Sam had convinced him Lily needed. “Dad?” The teen said as soon as she answered the phone. Daniel nodded.

“Hey Bean.” He greeted. “What’s up?”

The girl took a deep breath before launching into a very excited stream of chatter. “David kissed me while we were training in the zone today and asked me to be his girlfriend and I said I’d need some time to think about it and I don’t know what to tell him because I really like him but he’s also full ghost and I don’t know what I should do because I’m not full ghost like he is and lots of humans would really freak out. But I also really like him and I really want to kiss him again, Dad what should I do because I don’t know!”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Slow down Lily,” He instructed. “David? Are we talking about the same David that I know? Ember and Skulker’s boy?”

Lily groaned over the phone. “Yes Dad. That David, my David. The one I train with every day in the Ghost Zone. So what do I tell him? Should I say yes like I want to and let everyone think what they want to think? Or should I try to forget how I feel and tell him no?”

Daniel sighed. “Lily, Sweetheart,” he started. “Isn’t this something you should ask Mom about? Isn’t that what most teenage girls do? Ask their moms for advice?”

Lily groaned and the phone cracked like she had flopped down on her bed. “Mom said that I should talk to you because David’s a ghost.”

 

Dan hissed under his breath. “Really?” He asked. Giggling crossed the line and Daniel stiffened. “Bean?” he asked slowly. “Is that Mom?”

Lily sighed. “She told me to put you on speakerphone,” She explained. “Mom hasn’t been helpful at all.”

“Hey!”

Daniel rubbed his temple. “Hey Babe,” He greeted.

“Hey Glowstick,” She returned, stifling a laugh. “You’re handling this very poorly. You know that, right Danny?”

He sighed. “Yes. I know Sam. Give me a second Lily,” He said before she could interrupt. “Okay. David. He makes you happy, right?”

Lily drew in a quick breath. “He makes me really happy. Like, wow Dad. He doesn’t just want to hang around with me because you’re my dad, he actually tries when we fight, he does this thing, where when he walks around with me at school, and he always makes sure that nobody messes with me because my dad’s a hero. He’s really, really wonderful Dad. He’s fantastic. I’m in love with him Dad,”

Dan rubbed his temples and tried to remember that his Daughter was seventeen, and that somebody was going to catch her eye sooner or later, she had just wished it was somebody other than Skulker’s son. At least he wasn’t a frog like his father. “Okay Bean,” He decided. “If you really care about him that much, I’ll stand behind you. But, I will be talking to him, alright?”

 

Lily squealed and Daniel flinched back. “Thanks Dad! I’ll call you before I go to bed, okay?”

Dan nodded, despite the fact that Lily couldn’t see him. “Alright baby. I’ll talk to you then. Talk to you tonight Shade.”

The girls chorused their goodnights and Lily turned off the phone. Dan turned around to find Batman smirking at him. “I take it your daughter is finally finding other ghosts attractive?”

Daniel looked up at him tiredly. “Unfortunately,” He confirmed. “Are you ready to show me this League thing?”

“Press the button in the center of the disk. Then, we’re ready to go.”

A moment later, they were gone.

 


	4. Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one SuperPhantom fic I've ever written

A knock rang through the early morning mist as two men, worn and weary, knocked on the most popular door in Amity Park. The door of the younger Fenton family. There was a shuffling as a young woman, all of fifteen years old, opened the door a crack. A bright smile lit up her bright blue eyes as she opened her door the rest of the way. “Dean! Sam!” She said with excitement, “You’re here.”

The men walked inside the small home. It smelled of ectoplasm and lavender candles. Weapons laid half-assembled on the table by the door, toxic green ectoplasm swirled in a glass vial connected to blaster. The men eyed them with distaste, knowing them to be a pure mixture of what they had previously known to be ectoplasm. Instead, the ectoplasm they knew was a mixture of more vile things, things that shouldn’t be spoken.

Sam gave Annie a one-armed hug as he passed her on his way into the home. It was unusually quiet for the Fenton home. There was no hollering up and down the stairs as was their norm of communicating between rooms. There was no clatter of tools down in the lab, there was only the quiet whir of the portal down in the basement.

“Dad was up late working on a project from Grandma and Grandpa, so he’s asleep. Mom had paperwork for a case, and she’s not a morning person anyways, so she won’t get up until somebody makes her, probably with coffee. And James was up late talking to a girl.” Annie pulled out the last word with glee, like it was something she would hold over her brother’s head for weeks.

Dean smirked as he socked the girl in the arm. “So it looks like it’s just the three of us until there’s caffeine. And boys you’ve found interesting Annie?”

The girl blushed as she turned and walked into the kitchen, running her fingers through two-toned hair. “You two are like uncles to me, but do you have to act the part too?”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “I’m just making sure he’s a good boy Annie, take a breath.”

 

She toyed with her bangs, pulling them down in front of her eyes as she started making a pot of coffee. “His name is Aster.” She grumbled. “His dad’s a dragon and he’s really nice. Don’t kill him.”

Sam chuckled as Annie stared both men down. “How about this? Because we haven’t seen you in person since your thirteenth birthday, how about we make the trade of information a game. You tell us things that have happened to you, and we’ll tell you what’s happened to us.”

Annie smirked as she leaned her elbows on the counter. “Alright.” She said with a grin. “Your turn then. I told you his name, you tell me something interesting. But after this I want stories in exchange for facts. Like, your old war stories from before you knew Dad.”

The two hesitated but nodded after a moment. “Fine. There’s been an angel clinging to Dean for the last while.”

Dean punched Sam so had he stumbled. “You’d better tell us something worth it for that information.” He grumbled.

Annie laughed softly as she turned and grabbed herself an apple from the fridge. With a swirl of her fingers, bright green energy swirled out of her fingers and curled around the men she had come to know as part of her family, just like Uncle Jake and Uncle Randy were her family.

The energy lifted the men and carefully set them down on chairs. Annie poured some of the fresh coffee into three mugs, using the energy to place them on the table. She physically took cream and chocolate syrup out of the fridge and made her way to the table, setting them down.

“These are the only coffee fixings we have.” She explained with a smirk. “Now you’d better get ready. I have a whole bunch of stories to tell you. Now, start with when you two first started hunting together, when you pulled Sam out of college.”

Sam and Dean let their heads fall down to their arms. This was going to be a long morning, they could only hope that Danny and the other Sam woke up soon.


	5. Two Roads

****

He was just floating in the air, his hands folded carefully as he sat cross-legged in the air. The world around him was misty. Danny was at a crossroads, one he was sure would be one of the most important in his life. Two roads were in front of him, one blue, and the other green. He pondered which one to take carefully.

He could take the blue road, Danny had always taken the blue road, and things would stay exactly the same as they'd always been if he kept on walking down that road. It was familiar, nothing unexpected and exciting would come up on the blue road. That didn't appeal to him anymore. He needed a change. Danny looked to the green road.

The green road was glowing faintly, energy seemed to pour from the green road. He liked it. It wasn't the kind of energy that came from his parent's ghost hunting equipment, that energy had always felt hostile. It was meant to destroy, to raze every spirit his parents ever met. Danny had never like that. Destroying things was wrong. This energy was meant to help others. It felt similar to the kind of energy that he had always thought of with friends.

The green road was the right road, it was clear to him. He had a pang of fear strike to the core of his being. The green road had blood red bricks mixed in every once and a while. The red was very wrong, He knew it. The red felt bad, as he got closer to the red it made Danny want to scream. It was the opposite of the green bricks.

Danny steeled himself as he took the first step on the green road. It sizzled slightly against his feet, only then did Danny realize that He was barefoot in his blue jeans and tee shirt. He liked the sizzle of energy against his skin. Danny started to walk forwards slowly, jumping over every single red brick he could. He scraped his toe on only one, the sensation he felt then was what Danny thought true evil must feel like. He removed his foot as quickly as he could but the damage was done, sometime on his journey Danny would have to face that simple mistake, his little trip up.

He let himself stop for just a minute. Danny needed to calm himself down before he tripped up again. If he tripped up again he didn't know if he could recover. Each new step was stronger and more powerful, it was easier to avoid the red bricks, and it was easier to stay on the green. Danny could feel waves of emotion wash over him as he walked. Danny felt anger, frustration, calmness, sadness, happiness, and most importantly, love. He stopped short when he realized what he was doing. He forced himself to remember what had happened before he came to the two roads, it had been the portal accident.

Danny was choosing the road he would use for his life, he was choosing whatever this green meant. He was deciding what would happen to Him. It scared him, realizing that he would be angry so often, realizing that when he scraped his toe on that red stone in the road he assured himself a run in with evil. At least it was only for a moment that He touched that brick, but how long was it going to be later?

Danny continued walking and the power continued to grow. He started to feel his clothing morphing, He was no longer wearing a tee shirt and jeans but a series of black, green, and silver super suits. He could see the end of the path, well, it wasn't the very end of the path but it was the part where it looked like he would be getting off of the road. The rest of the road was emerald green and glittery. Just before he stepped off of the road he looked down and saw words written in the stone _. Danny Phantom, King of the Ghosts._ He had no time to ponder that as Danny took his final step on the green road and the whole world went white.

Danny jolted up forwards and was hit with a wave of dizzying nausea. The whole room he was in was bright white. He had no clue what was going on or where he was. Figures in blue scrubs rushed around the room and Danny saw the blurry forms of Sam, Tuck, and Jazz outside a window. His family was trying to come into the room, being held back by more people in scrubs. Everyone sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. "Will you all shut up!" Danny screamed.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at him like he was an alien with four eyes. "One at a time." Danny begged. "My head is killing me, my ears are buzzing like someone stuck a phone on vibrate in each of them, and my stomach feels like somebody swapped my stomach acid for bleach."

A woman with a white coat over her scrubs walked over and set a hand on Danny's. She spoke slowly and his ears were able to make out the fuzzy words. "You were in an accident, can you tell me your name?"

He nodded slowly. "Daniel. My name is Daniel Matthew Fenton. My friends call me Danny." She nodded.

"That's good Daniel, very good. Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?" He took several deep breathes and closed his eyes. Everything hurt, his feet the most. He didn't know why.

"I was down in Mom and Dad's lab. I stepped inside the broken portal and set my hand on the inside of the portal. After that all I can remember is pain before I passed out. What's going on? Where am I?"

The woman looked at him sympathetically. "You're at the hospital Daniel. There was a flaw with the electrical in that portal. You pressed a button on the inside and got electrocuted. We're going to run some tests, it's going to be okay." Danny nodded numbly, his entire body felt strange. Something was different.

Outside of time, a ghost in a hooded purple cloak with red eyes smiled. His fingers wrapped around a staff with a clock connected to the top of the rod. "A king is born because he chose the right of the two roads."

He waved his staff and saw all of the adventures the boy would have over his life and eventual afterlife, all of the good that Danny Fenton would do for both of his worlds. He laughed softly seeing the roads the boy chose, the steps he took deciding his life for himself. "And all is as it should be."


	6. Foreign

Danny's POV

We had finally done it. Finally Graduated from being Junior Corps to full fledged Space Corps members. Now there would be five of us on a team. Five 18 year olds working together. Now we stood in line with all of the other graduates separated by planet, waiting for our field orders, key cards, and patches to put on our new uniforms. My dream I'd had since Maddie and Jack rescued me from the ruins of Phantom Planet. I was going to join Space Corps just like them. I was going to save people. The only thing left would be final inspection.

Commander Wentworth stepped through the doorway. She was tall, with sharp features. An anubi. Her ears were raised up in attention, something different would be happening during this inspection, before we got our badges and key cards.

Wentwork gestured and two young woman walked quickly through the doorway. A humanoid and a clorii. "Alright everyone, this is Lola, my assistant. I'm Goergy and I'll be your medic. We'll be doing a quick checkup. It's just part of procedure. It won't take long. Only a scan of your vitals."

I froze as she started checking vitals. This wouldn't be good. Not good. I wouldn't be able to get out of this. I closed my eyes. Try not to sweat, my makeup would smear off. Try not to get nervous, my hair would start floating. Goergy stepped next to me and my eyes snapped open.

"Alright, Daniel Fenton..." She greeted. I didn't react even though the name sounded wrong. My name was Daniel Michio Masters. I was the last halpha and I hoped every day that there was someone somewhere that was one of my people I could know, that I could talk to. I closed my eyes as the scanner ran over me. I assumed most people thought it was freezing. I was colder than most, so it was normal for me.

Goergy suddenly gasped and I winced. That kind of sound was usually a bad sound. "What are you?" She asked in horror. I looked her in the eye.

"I'm a human. My name is Daniel James Fenton. My parents are Jack and Madeline Fenton. You should know that, you and my Mom were roommates in Junior Corps."

Goergy turned and called over her shoulder. "Commander, we have an anomaly here."

I clenched any teeth. As if this wasn't bad enough, now the commander was getting involved. I could loose being top of my class at Junior because of a stupid vitals exam that everyone was supposed to have passed.

Wentworth walked across the almost silent room. Dash was snickering, Tucker was leaning out of line so he could see what was going on, and Sam, she had grown. Her legs were clearly at least 7 feet tall now, her purple petals rustling as she ran her hands through them. Wentworth sniffed the air before taking one of her gloved hands and rubbing it down my face. The makeup smeared off, showing the pale growing skin beneath.

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her clean hand. "Daniel." She sighed. "To your quarters. Bathe but don't but on any disguises. Do not leave your quarters Cadet. I'll be there with Jack and Maddie within The next hour or two."

I nodded sharply. "Yes Commander Ma'am." I said crisply before leaving the room.

A purple petal floated over do me and on to my hand. One of Sam's. I blushed before turning and looking at her.

We'll be right there. She mouthed. I promise.

I smiled at her and hoped nobody saw how green I was.

I showered in the hottest shower possible and scrubbed. The dye from my hair washed out and makeup swirled down the drain. Blue contacts were thrown out and I finally stopped repressing my glow. I wasn't the dark haired, blue eyed, fair skinned human Danny Fenton anymore. I was the snowy haired, green eyed, green skinned halpha Daniel Masters again. And I had missed that.

I padded out of the shower with a towel around my waist to grab my clothing. I hesitated. Would I dress like a human, or as a halpha, In the clothing I insisted Maddie buy. I pulled the black leotard out from where it had been shoved to the bottom of my chest. Then I went to the head of my bed where the pillow was, and pulled a pale blue scarf out from inside the case. I buried my face in the silky fabric. It was comforting. Mama had wrapped me in my scarves when I was small. I wrapped the scarf around myself like a shawl, just like my Papa wore his.

There was a knock on the door and I grabbed the huge bathrobe I wore when I wasn't wearing makeup. It fell to the floor and covered my hands and arms. The hood covered my face so nobody could see that either. "Who is it?" I asked as I sat down on my bed.

"The Pizza Man." Tucker quipped. "Are you decent?" He joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on in." I called out.

Tucker swiped his pass key and walked in, dumping his new things on his desk. Sam's arms were empty, she'd already put her things in her room. "What was up back there Bro?" He asked in confusion. "You're perfectly healthy, why'd they send you back here?"

I shrugged. "Mom and Dad will explain. Nobody's in danger."

Before I could say anything else, Sam groaned. "Will you take that stupid robe off?"

I stiffened. "Not yet. I just, don't look like how you're used to seeing me. I'm going to wait until Mom and Dad get here."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I'm a flower and Tucker doesn't treat me differently than he does you. At least take the hood off."

I shook my head as I heard a knock on the door. "Danny Sweetie, It's Mom. Please let me in baby."

I crossed the room and opened the door before getting wrapped in a hug. I was being held, comforted. Mom reached under my hood and pushed some of the pale hair out of my eyes. "Hi Mom." I mumbled. "I'm fine, really. There was just a vitals check to see if we were healthy enough to go on missions."

"I'm sorry baby. We'll work it out, l promise." She said as she rubbed my neck. I enjoyed that. It made me feel good. I looked behind Mom to see Jazz and Dad. Jazz smiled at me before moving Mom out of the way. She wrapped me in a hug.

"Hey Little Brother. It's been a while." I rolled my eyes before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"A week is not a while Jazz. Chill."

She stuck her tongue out at me and we laughed until we heard somebody clear their throat. I snapped to attention, My hood falling further over my face. The commander took a long look at me and shook her head. "In your room and of with the damn robe Fenton. I want to sort this out before lunch."

Dad clapped a hand on my shoulder as we all stood very awkwardly in Tucker's and my shared room. "You wearing something under that bathrobe Fenton?" Wentworth asked. I nodded tensely. "Then drop it."

I clenched my teeth before dropping the robe to my feet. I let myself float in the air and I felt so free. I sat cross-legged in the air and just let myself be. I was me, and I hadn't been me in so long. I glanced over at my friends and waited for their reactions. Sam smiled brightly and the room smelled of flowers.

"You have adorable freckles." She said bluntly, a huge grin on her face. I laughed as my face flushed bright green. Mom gazed upon me fondly.

"This is my son, Daniel Michio Masters. The only known survivor of the Phantom Planet disaster." She said softly. I sobered quickly, floating down to the ground. I wrapped my shawl around me tightly.

Wentworth sat down on the ground across from me. "You're a halpha." She said in awe. I nodded.

"I am. But I'm also the man with the highest fights scores, with the best training, and the most space experience." I said tensely. "I'm also all alone. I don't have my parents. My friends. I was going to have a baby sister. A little sister! And I don't have that anymore. I love the Fenton's. They're wonderful people. But they aren't Mama and Papa and my baby sister. I'm sorry about that. Because I love my family. But I'm Danny Masters. And I understand If you need to remove me from the program."

Wentworth stared at me before shaking her head. "You're a leader Fen- I mean Masters. You're going to be the leader of your team. It would take another two years to find another fit for your team. So now I'm going to make a deal with you. Halphas are supposed to have fantastic memories…"

I nodded. "We do, your reasoning?"

"Tell me everything you can remember about the day your planet was destroyed." She said firmly. I floated upwards without a thought and slammed into my friends. I then fell on my face. Sam and Tucker each hoisted me up with an arm.

"Are you out of your mind?" Jazz yelled. "That day was the worst of my brother's life! All due respect, but Danny's been having nightmares about that day for years…"

"Jazz." I mumbled.

"Even bringing it up is traumatic enough for him, he lost a sister, a mother, a father …"

"Jazz." I said more clearly.

"He's been the only one to know what it was like to be one of his people was like. He's had to go it alone without anybody to tell him what was wrong or right. There weren't any records in the Corps Library of anything about Halphas and the only other information about it was lost in the tragedy… "

"Jasmine Adeline Fenton Stop It!" I screamed. Everyone covered their ears but Sam and winced. I clamped both hands over my mouth in horror. I had wailed, a very strong power I only lost control of once before, supersonic sound waves that could destroy your nervous system. Sam didn't have a nervous system, and I was immune. The time I lost control was when a cinder came to Earth and tried to kill my family for no reason. His name was Skulking or Lurker something like that, he'd scared Mom and Dad pretty badly though. That was when I got the power seven years ago.

Everyone was very quiet for a moment and I wanted to shrink smaller than a child's doll. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

"It's alright Danny-Boy." Dad said softly. "It's not your fault. You couldn't help it. We understand."

The commander stared at me with a hunger in her eyes. "They may understand, but don't. Help me understand. I'm not from your world. Help the foreign understand the way a native would. Come on Masters. It's just like a history course."

She was trying to manipulate me. She wanted my personal knowledge for her gain. This was not a simple history course this was my family. My life. My final day on my world. I wouldn't tell her just to tell her.

But I had Sam and Tucker. I'd been lying to them for two long years. They were part of my new family, the family chose for myself. They deserved to know.

"I'm only telling you because you're in the room. The story's for Sam and Tucker."

"Dude. You seriously don't need to do that. You didn't even have to tell us you weren't human. There's no need." Tucker rushed out. Sam grabbed my hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Danny. You don't need to run through it for us." She assured me. I smiled.

"That's why I'm telling you. Because you aren't pressuring me about it." I took a deep breath. Part of me wanted to just runaway I fly out in the open Space. But running away wouldn't make the horrible memories go away. I bit my lip and took one more breath. "I was six years old when it all happened. My dad was important, a Plasmius. Like an Alpha anubi or a human nobleman. He had gone off the planet that day to help harvest some Ectoranium…"


	7. Flowers

Danny's POV

I was starting to get really tired of teleporting. I had to have been in twenty cities by now and it was only nine in the morning. All just to find some stupid flowers.

I rubbed my forehead in frustration as a group of young kids caught sight of me. Suddenly they swarmed me and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Can I get your autograph Danny Phantom?"

"What are you doing in Arizona Danny Phantom?"

"Did you get lost?"

"But seriously, can I have your autograph?"

I shook my head and held up my hands. "Woah, we've got to chill out! I can't talk to all of you at the same time."

Suddenly there was silence, broken only by the occasional squeal of excitement. I nodded as I pulled out a notebook, one Sam told me I should carry in the case of autographs happening unexpectedly, and started scribbling out autographs and handing them out. "Good. But, now I'm on a super-secret mission. Do you think that you can help me?"

"I'll help you!"

"Let me go ask my Mom!"

"Can I help you?"

"I'll help you if I can!"

I held up my hand and grinned as the kids all fell silent. "Good. Now I'm on a mission that's different than the one I'm usually on. I'm looking for a flower."

Nobody groaned like I'd expected them to do. Instead, the kids looked around and sat down. "Tell us about it." Somebody asked. I blinked once, twice, and then I sat down. How was I going to simplify this into six year old terms?

I sat down on the ground, knowing full well I was wasting my time, but not really minding it. "Have you guys seen that really pretty girl on the news with me?" I asked, drumming my fingers on the sidewalk.

"The one with the red hair?" Asked a boy with hair of the same hue. I smirked.

"No, that's my big sister, but she is still very pretty. I'm talking about the one that I think is prettiest. The girl with short black hair and bright violet eyes." At the looks of confusion I realized that I was talking to five and six year olds. Violet wasn't a color yet for them. "I mean purple, bright purple."

There was a collective exclamation of understanding as I nodded. "Her name is Sam, and she's my girlfriend. I'm trying to find her favorite flowers."

Somebody tugged on the pants leg of my jeans and I turned to find a little girl with long brown hair pulled in front of her face as she blushed shyly. "What kind of flowers are they?" She asked in a whisper.

"They're called Gerbera Daisies. Sam likes the light blue ones." I told her as I brushed her hair behind her ear.

The girl's clear green eyes lit up as she stood up and pulled me down the street. "Bye I guess!" I called over my shoulder to the other kids.

"I'm Leah." The girl with green eyes said softly. "My mommy owns the flower shop down the street. She just got some flowers like that."

I let the girl lead me down the street and into a small flower shop on the corner. The place was homey, quiet, and made me think Sam would love the place, especially because it was January and there was still Halloween decorations up.

"Mommy!" Leah called as she pulled me into the store. "I made a new friend."

A woman with short red hair stood up and glanced over at the door. "Leah, what in the wo-" Her voice broke off when she saw me. "Great Googly Moogly." She whispered.

I stepped forwards and held out my hand. "Hey, I'm Danny Fenton. Do you have any Gerbera daisies?"

She nodded as I turned to Leah. "Do you think that you can show me where they are?"

Leah nodded and started pulling me through the store just as she had pulled me down the street. She pulled me to the back of the room to where there were potted daisies of rainbow colors all sitting in a row. I sighed with relief. I hadn't been able to find any in Illinois, but I had found some now.

I picked up some of the light blue ones, the only ones that had a black pot. I turned to Leah, standing less shy and much more proud now. "Can I buy some green ribbon here too?" I asked with a smile.

Leah tilted her head like a confused puppy. "What kind of green?" She asked as she started to rock back and forth on her heels. I thought about trying to describe it to her before my brain kicked in. I set down the flowers on the floor beside me and knelt. I cupped my hands like I was going to hold something small before willing ectoplasm to form in my hands.

"This kind of green."

Leah's eyes lit up again as she ran off to somewhere else in her mother's store. She came back with a small roll of acid green ribbon and presented it to me proudly. I took it and carefully picked up both the ribbon and the flowers, making sure that I still had a hand free for Leah. We walked up to the front of the store where Leah's mother was still standing stunned. I set both objects on the counter.

I set three ten dollar bills on the counter as Leah's mom shook her head. "You don't need to pay, really it's alright. There just potted daisies." I pushed the bills forward.

"These are my girlfriend's favorite flower. Nobody in Amity has any potted ones now and she usually hates to cut flowers. I've been looking for these for hours and I'd really like to pay for them."

Leah's mom stood there for a moment before shaking herself out of her daze and nodding again. Now I needed to head home, but Leah was still holding my hand. I knelt down on the ground next to the girl and squeezed her hands. "I need to go home now." I whispered.

Leah's eyes grew big. "But I don't want you to go! You just got here!"

I sighed. "But I need to go home and give Sam these flowers." Leah stuck out her bottom lip.

"But nobody's going to believe me when I say that Danny Phantom bought flowers from my Mommy's flower shop."

I thought about that for a second before smiling and quickly forming my logo out of ice. With just a little bit of energy, I was able to make the ice glow. I tucked the ice in Leah's little fingers and smiled.

"So far, I'm the only person that can make these. I'm the only person that'll be able to make it melt too. Now everyone'll know that you aren't a liar. That means you can't tell lies to your friends or your mom, alright?" Leah nodded and clutched the small unmalting ice with both hands.

I picked up the flowers and ribbon before nodding to Leah's mom and smiling at Leah. "It was nice to meet you Leah." I said before my molecules burst apart and I teleported home.

I opened my eyes again on Sam's street. It was snowing and the sun was blinding, or the sun would have been blinding if I didn't have ghost powers. I was used to seeing things this brightly as I glowed so brightly depending on my emotions.

I sat down on the sidewalk in the snow and quickly tied the ribbon around the flower pot. I sliced the ribbon with an ecto-ray.

I slid the extra ribbon in my pocket and picked up the flowers before standing and walking the little rest of the way to Sam's house.

I knocked on the door and had Mrs. Manson's butler of the week (Mrs. Manson always fired them for letting me in her house) open the door. He nodded to me and let me walk inside with a smile. He would probably be fired for granting me entrance, but seeing the flowers, and knowing that Sam was upstairs listening to rock music just like she did every Saturday morning, I think he cut me some slack.

I walked up the stairs to Sam's room and knocked on the door. "Come on in!" She hollered over the blasting Dumpty Humpty music.

It was ten am and she was still in her pajamas, something that made me more than a little happy as she was in short red shorts and one of my tee shirts that she must have stolen from my house again. "Oh, hey." She said as she picked up her remote to her stereo and paused her music.

I sat down beside her and pressed a kiss on her lips before handing her the flowers. "Hey Shade."

A careful finger brushed against a petal before Sam laughed. "Where did you find these? I usually can't find them until at least March."

I shrugged. "I went to Arizona." I said casually. Sam froze.

"You went to Arizona." She deadpanned, stunned for the first time in a very long while. "It's 10am. How long have you been up?" She asked incredulously.

"5am, I've been up since 5am trying to find those flowers." I said, slightly tired now.

Sam sat up a little taller, pressed a long, firm kiss on my lips, and set her hands on her hips. "Alright, what are you trying to sugar me up for Ghost Boy?" She asked with a smirk.

I drew in a shallow breath before sighing. "I wanted to take you on a date. We've been 'dating' for eight months and I haven't taken you on a date yet. I want to take you on a date. Please?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Step outside my room and no peeping. I'll be out in a minute and then we can go out to a movie or something, just the two of us, alright?"

I nodded. "Alright." I stepped up and Sam set a hand on my leg.

"And Danny, thank you, for the flowers."

I grinned. "You're welcome."


	8. Expectations

** Maddie's POV **

**During Phantom Planet**

As soon as Phantom crashed Sam panicked and Jazz was on the verge of tears. I was on the brink of panic myself, the world was ending. Jack wrapped his large arms around Jazz and me, he spoke but I wasn't listening. Sam was still standing at the window alone but Danny made no moves to comfort her.

"At least we're all together." I said in an attempt to try and calm Jasmine. My daughter was in med school, a surgeon in training, she pushed her emotions aside when things got serious, yet Jazz was crying at those five everyday words.

"Oh Mom, there's something you need to know." Danny still hadn't gone to his sister or Sam. Danny had always been the helper, the one who wanted to fix everything. With his lack of movement and emotion I figured that he was in shock.

I walked over to Danny. Where I had expected to find my baby's creamy white face and cerulean eyes I saw a metallic android with green light bulbs where the clear azure eyes should have been. "A robot? Where's Danny?" I squeaked, panic threatening to overwhelm me. "Jasmine? Where's your brother?"

Jazz gazed over at the wreckage where her hero had fallen. No words left her mouth. I looked around the control center, searching for my son. I wished it was like when Danny was little, when Danny would run off and start his game of hide and seek without telling anyone. He would wait five minutes and then come running back and pout because nobody came and found him. I couldn't find him anywhere. I turned to Jack, he should have been riding with him. "Jack! Where's Danny?"

Jack didn't have time to say anything as Sam cried out in relief. "Look! The portal!"

It was hopeless. Phantom had crashed into the ground, his soul probably evaporated in the heat of the crash. He wouldn't be coming to save us again. Even though there was no chance of anyone coming to help us the group of people one hundred strong, young and old, listened to that sixteen year old girl.

The miracle that they were waiting for came. Phantom flew through the portal, followed by thousands of ghosts. Jazz breathed a sob of relief. Sam ran from the window and out the door as soon as heard Phantom's voice. "Tuck! How much longer?"

"Now!" A wave of frozen air washed over everyone, leaving all in the path of the wave tingly. Almost like the feeling you get when you fall asleep, only everywhere. I continued to look for Danny. I still couldn't find him.

"Jasmine, do you have any idea where Danny is?" Jazz wiped away the last of her tears, leaving a brilliant smile on her damp face as she pointed to the tower of straining ghosts.

"Fenton, Phantom, You're a world famous scientist. How did you not put that together?"

I stood in stunned silence as Phantom called out again. I closed my eyes, making sure that I was paying attention to his voice. It had an eerie echo but it was still Danny's. "Where's the asteroid?" The hunk of glowing space rock flew through the earth and the wave of receded. Jazz ran out the door followed closely by Tucker.

When I got to the kids there were in the snow, on the ground. Phantom- no, Danny was on the bottom, Sam was on top of him, clinging to him like he was her lifeline. Tucker was hugging Danny from the other side. Jazz was holding on to all three of the teens, almost like she thought they were going to fade into mist. "Good job little brother." She said proudly. "Or should say hero?" I looked up a Jack, he nodded and wrapped an arm around me as we stepped forwards.

"Good job Danny," He started very professionally before smiling. "Or should I say Danny?" The teen froze before sticking on a mask of confidence, puffing out his chest and sticking out his hand.

"Sorry citizens, but I have no idea what you're talking about." I took a step forwards, taking his gloved hand in both of mine.

"Isn't there something you wanted to tell us?" A flash of panic rolled over Danny's face, he looked ready to bolt, simply disappear and have the danger be over with. Now that I was close enough I could see that the boy had dark purple circles underneath both of his eyes.

Jazz saw his panic and said the best thing that she could to calm him. "It's okay Danny, they know." He looked around carefully at the people around him. I noticed that he didn't look up, the noise of the helicopters were drowned out by the wind. Glowing halos the color of the sun on the brightest days surrounded his waist. The rings traveled in opposite directions. As soon as the rings passed over his body the jump suited ghost that glowed was gone. My little boy was left in his place. He was still wearing the same tee shirt and jeans he had put on three days ago, when he got into the jet that brought him here. He almost backed up into the safety of his friends as everyone took several steps forwards.

I didn't stop at three steps. I walked the entire way to my son and wrapped my arms around him. Danny was a good six feet tall now, adding to my realization that my baby grew up without me knowing it. Although he was surprised by the hug, Danny returned it instantly. "I broke the jet." He stated matter of factly.

I laughed, tears spilling from my eyes and down my face. "I only wanted to protect you." I whispered.

"I know Mom, its okay. I'm fine." Danny soothed, he was starting to lean into me more heavily now, using me to support some of his weight.

"It's not okay. You've been doing this for years and I tried to hurt you. I tried to blast you out of the sky." Danny rubbed my back a moment more before releasing his arms from mine, placing a kiss on my forehead.

"We can talk about this later Mom. Maybe over food." Danny looked up to the sky tiredly before his eyes popped open. "Crap. I forgot we were on international television. I just turned human in front of the whole world. That was one of the most impulsive things I've ever done." Sam snorted at that comment.

"That award goes to removing your powers for a week. That was an idiot move."

Danny shrugged. "Yeah, that was an idiot move. But then again we just saved the world so I'm pretty sure that doesn't count right now." Sam stuck her tongue out at Danny and he returned the gesture. It would have looked like their usual poking at each other if I wasn't Danny's mom. They each had a pale rosy blush spread across their cheeks and were eyeing each other shyly. Danny finally tore his eyes form Sam and looked up to the copters, waving one arm to get the pilots' attention.

"Hi! I'm Danny! Could you take us back to the main control center? There is no way that I'm going to be able to fly anyone anywhere!" The copters started descending a safe distance away and Danny stumbled. Even as quick as my reflexes were and as close to Danny as I was Sam and Tucker still got to him first. They each grabbed one of the exhausted teen's arms and helped him stay upright. Tucker groaned as he and Sam started to walk over to where the copters were landing. Jazz walked beside them.

"Dude, how much energy did you feed to the tower?" Jack and I started to follow them so that we could learn as much as possible. We had missed so much, we couldn't miss anymore.

"Just about all of it. I'd say we have thirty minutes before I pass out and maybe twenty before I start to talk absolute nonsense. I think a nap is a good idea. Even I'm not usually this dead."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Danny, that was a horrible joke. We'll fine a couch or something where you can nap. Do you want us to explain the past couple of years to your folks?" Danny nodded as his eyes drooped further.

"Sure, just nothing about him. I don't want them to think I'm him. Clockwork told me that there's no chance of him happening so they don't need to know unless he escapes prison." Sam and Tuck both nodded quickly, like this mysterious male scared them too.

"We won't. Don't worry." Tucker soothed, he and Sam were holding Danny up completely now. They weren't strained and the way that they moved when they saw him start to fall alerted me that this wasn't the first time they had to carry Danny when he was too tired to move.

We stopped as the copter landed. My short red hair whipped around my face and the noise was so loud that it was all I could hear. The trio got in the copter first, Sam sat down and Tucker helped Danny into the seat next to her. Tuck sat in the row across from them. Jazz climbed in a shrugged her shoulders before sitting down next to Tucker. Jack and I climbed in last. Danny already had his head on Sam's shoulder. It was a position the both of them had adopted whenever they had managed to convince Sam's parents to let her go on trips with the Fenton's. It was too loud for any of the kids to explain anything yet but that was okay. We would have time. Ten minutes later we landed. Everyone at the main center was standing outside, waiting for us. They clearly wanted to speak to Danny.

"Hey! Humans!" Sam barked. The crowd turned their attention to the girl that was helping the hero out of the helicopter. "Yeah! I just called you humans, I typically don't think of myself as one. I know you all want to talk to Danny, truthfully I want to have a conversation with him too, now's not the time. Danny barely has enough energy to stay conscious because he just saved all of your lives. Now you are not going to bombard him with questions and if the Guys in White come they can go back to wherever the hell they came from because there's no way that I'm letting them hurt him."

Everyone parted for the six of us. Sam and Tucker lead the way to an area where there was a small couch and several chairs. "This is where Danny was sleeping." Tuck explained to Jack and I as Sam helped Danny sit down. "When he passes out he reverts to human, unless he has a really bad nightmare. If he has a really bad nightmare he'll change in his sleep some times." Tuck sat down on the other end of the couch by Danny's feet. He was snuggling up to Sam and for once the girl wasn't complaining because she was in contact with a person.

"Go on and sit down." Danny invited groggily. "I know that I'm kind of scary but I don't do anything to innocents. You're safe. I'm just going to lay here. Maybe count Sam's heartbeat. My heartbeat isn't this loud. I like it." Sam chucked softly.

"Are you delirious Danny?" She asked with a smirk.

"No. Yes. Maybe. I have a quick favor to ask of you." Sam ran her fingers through Danny's dark hair.

"Shoot. Whatcha need Danny?" He rolled over so he was lying face up on Sam's lap.

"You know, that thing that we did before I flew off and scared you half to death? Can we do that again?" Sam's face broke out in a grin so wide it looked like it could have hurt. Then she hesitated.

"You sure? I figured you might have gotten caught up in the moment." Danny's clear eyes gazed up at Sam's misty ones.

"Sam. Just kiss me already." My eyes widened. I had been under the impression that Danny was as clueless as they came when it came to his and Sam's mutual feelings. Then again, I thought that my son was two very different people. Sam kissed Danny and he looked ready to melt as his lips moved against Sam's. She pulled back from the kiss and Danny broke out in a grin as he rolled over so he was on his side, facing the door. He always slept facing the door. "If this is a dream, don't wake me up. This is a very good dream."

Sam chuckled and continued to run her fingers through Danny hair. "You're not dreaming yet Danny. Get some sleep and then you might be."

"Hm. M'kay. You know you'd make an awesome superhero Sam, even better than me." Tucker snorted and turned to Jack and me.

"Meet delirious Danny. Sam's probably just going to humor him until he passes out. Have some fun watching. I typically record this so Danny can see it later." Jazz was watching the two teenagers with a smirk on her face. This apparently wasn't then first time that she saw Danny this loopy.

"Hey Danny?" Jazz called to her baby brother. "What would Sam's super hero name be? It would have to be pretty damn awesome." The sleepy boy pondered it for a moment.

"Sammy Shade. I think that Sammy Shade would be appropriately awesome. It's cute and still Goth." Even I wasn't able to keep the laughter from escaping my mouth.

"Tuck." Sam squeaked through her giggles. "You are recording this, right?" The techno geek nodded.

"We've been recording since he told you to kiss him. He's going to kill me for recording this but I'm still recording it." Jazz wasn't done getting humor at her brother's expense.

"Danny, If you picked out a new alter ego to be Sam's sidekick what would you pick? Something other than Phantom Danny." Danny was almost asleep, his eyes closed the whole way. When he spoke I was a mumble, but everyone was being so quiet that it was easy to hear.

"Glowstick. I would be Captain Glowstick. And when it would take too long to say the whole thing I would be Glowstick and Sam would be Shade." Danny sighed softly. "Good night Antarctica." Danny started to snore softly and the three remaining teenagers let themselves fall apart in giggles.

"I didn't think that he would be that groggy, really guys. You talked it down." Jazz said a smile. At the word said Sam swallowed hard before turning to Jack and me.

"You guys probably want some answers now don't you?" Jack and I both nodded vigorously. Sam sighed and gazed down at Danny. "It was two years ago, August when we were fourteen, I asked Danny to look inside the portal and never would I have expected him to hit a button on the inside…."


End file.
